


An Exciting Day Out

by A_New_Believer



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Brief Appearance Of Henry Mills, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 17:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17923064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_New_Believer/pseuds/A_New_Believer
Summary: After Henry asks for some alone time with his girlfriend, Emma and Killian decide to take Hope to the local funfair being held in town. A young child hyped up on cotten candy and excitement? What could possibly go wrong!





	An Exciting Day Out

   “Mum! Killian! Can you come in here a minute! We need to talk.”

   Emma looked up from her magazine lying over her lap and blinked at where Killian was doing his best to fix a broken down shelf over the top of the television. Emma could have easily used her magic to fix it in seconds, but Killian seemed to feel it was a matter of pride that he complete the task the old fashioned way by himself. It was uneven and drooping to the left but considering he was working with a hand and a hook, it wasn’t actually a bad first attempt, if nothing else.

   “Coming, Henry.” Emma called, setting the magazine aside and standing. Together she and Killian wandered into the dining room where Henry was sat waiting for them, hands folded on the table in front of him like they were walking into an interview with him as the judge.

   “Take a seat.” Henry said, waving his hand at the two chairs purposely placed in front of him.

   “Um, okay.” Emma laughed, sitting down. “What’s this about, kid?”

   “Hope.” Henry stated.

   Emma and Killian exchanged confused looks before turning back to him. “What about her?” Killian asked.

   Henry paused and took a breath as if composing himself for what was to come. “I love Hope. She’s my sister and she’s adorable and I love spending time with her. And I’m so grateful for you and mum letting me and Ella stay here while we find a place.” He hesitated before bursting out: “But mum, we need boundaries!”

   “What are you talking about?” Emma frowned.

   “Mum, every time Ella and I try and have some alone time or just be together, Hope seems to sense it and comes running in on us. I can’t think of a home date that Hope _hasn’t_ interrupted. Whenever we have dinner here, she runs in to ask if she can have some. When we watch a movie, she runs in to watch it with us and it’s normally not suitable for her so we have to turn it off and end up watching Barney or something! When we even take walks in the garden, Hope comes and pulls at us and begs us until we push her on the swings! And that’s not even including the times she’s caught us when we’re out at Granny’s or walking through town and we somehow end up babysitting.”

   “Okay, easy, kid!” Emma stood and reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Just take a breath.”

   “I can’t!” Henry insisted. “That’s the point! Mum, I love Hope with all the love a brother can give but I need some space every now and then.”

   “I take it Ella feels the same way.” Killian nodded.

   “Yeah, she does.” Henry nodded, looking extremely tired all of a sudden. “She adores Hope as much as the next person but even Lucy gives us some private time every now and then.” He paused and shrugged casually. “Like today for instance. She’s gone to spend some time with mum for the day...”

   Emma laughed, sitting back down and leaning back in her chair. “Is that a not so subtle hint that you want us all out of the way for the day?”

   Henry leaned back on the table, stretching a hand towards her and giving a small pleading smile. “It’s a hint that we could _really_ use some alone time. And we’d be really grateful for it.”

   And so that was how Emma, Killian and Hope decided to go out for the day.

* * *

    “Is Henry coming?” Hope asked, holding on to both her parents hand and jumping each step, skipping over all the cracks in a private game with herself.

   “No, honey. He’s staying home with Ella today.” Emma explained.

   “Why?” Hope blinked, looking up at her.

   “Well because he and Ella have a day planned together and so do we!” Emma said cheerfully, trying to distract her before she could ask if she could spend her day with Henry and Ella as well.

   Hope looked like she was going to say something else, but before she could she caught sight of the fair up ahead of them. As her eyes widened in excited joy, all thoughts of Henry, Ella and heading home banished from her mind.

   The best part about living in Storybrooke was that there was so much they could get away with thanks to the magical potential so many people had. It meant they could do grand things on the simplest of days, such as make up an entire fun fair for the anniversary of Storybrooke’s creation (or rather, the anniversary of the curse being broken and therefore everyone finally being able to appreciate Storybrooke’s creation). Zelena had been put in charge of the event, or rather, she claimed to be in charge but it mostly seemed like she was Granny’s little helper, doing whatever the older woman told and then trying to take credit for it afterwards.

   It took place in the town centre near the clock tower, with everything from fast exciting rides to the silliest of games to food stands of every sort and flavour surrounding the whole area in one large circle. There were every colour lights strung up on the lamp posts, cheerful music playing from the speakers, and of course the screams and laughter of other children and families who had all agreed on coming out today. It was the perfect place for the Swan-Jones family to have their day out.

   “Okay, where do you want to go first?” Emma asked her daughter as they approached through the large banner entrance floating magically overhead between two wooden barriers.

   “Teacups!” Hope gasped, trying to run ahead while still holding onto her parent’s hands at the same time.

   “Alright, hold on, we’ll get there!” Emma laughed.

   “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” Hope demanded.

   Still laughing at her uncontained joy, Emma and Killian obediently followed Hope along towards the first ride of many. From there, most of the day was spent following Hope as she bounced from one ride or game stall to the next right after. This was her first time at a fair with so many options like this just waiting for her, so it was no surprise that she was overwhelmed and taking the chance to try every single thing before time ran out, and this wasn’t even including the snacks and sweets she insisted on testing in between.

   But time was running out too fast for them, and halfway through their fun, Hope began to complain that she was really hungry for something proper (not just the various sweets that begged her dad to buy her). Of course, that still didn’t stop her running around to each of the rides, refusing to stay still for even a second when there was still so much to see and squeal over. And even with her endless happiness at her surroundings, her parents still needed to take care of her, even if she was busy working up an even great appetite than she already had.

   “You keep an eye on her,” Emma said. “I’ll go grab us some real food. Maybe try her on some of Granny’s hot dogs next.”

   “Okay, love.” Killian and her shared a brief kiss before she turned away and disappeared into the crowd.

   After Emma had faded from his sight, Killian turned back to where Hope was hopping up and down in front of him like a cartoon rabbit. She waited until her father looked down at her, like that was the sign for her to go, before turning and pelting into a run into the crowd opposite for the next ride. Killian chuckled and followed after, having to rush slightly to avoid losing her in the mass of other people. She was so small and there were so many others also enjoying the day, it was easily for Hope to squeeze herself between their legs but not so easily for Killian and he began to lose sight of her. After a while, it stopped being a fun laugh and Killian actually began to struggle, trying to work his way around the people, shoving a few carelessly in order to keep up.

   And then the worst happened.

   Killian lost sight of his daughter.

   One minute he caught glimpse of her light brown hair swinging in its pony tail behind her, the next every part of her had completely vanished from sight and didn’t reappear right after like he expected. Even after Killian frantically threw himself forward, not even caring when the people he pushed passed lost their balance and fell over to the floor, not pausing to glance at them and check if they were okay as they jumped over them and stomped on limbs and fingers. Instead he was completely focused in searching desperately for his little girl. But no matter how much he rushed or how hard he looked and listened, Hope was gone.

   “Shit!” Killian swore.

   He stopped, looked around at the faces of the people passing him, so many familiar and so many new, and yet none of them were Hope. He tried calling her name over the heads crowding his way, but his voice was easily lost among the rest of the shouting and grinding sounds of gears from nearby rides. In fact he could barely hear himself, so he had little belief that poor Hope could hear him.

   Now was the time to really panic.

   “HOPE!” Killian shouted, even knowing it was pointless, he had to try! He didn’t stop rushing, forcing his way over to the nearest stand. “Have you seen Hope?”

   “No... Is she with Emma?” Ruby asked calmly.

   Killian didn’t answer her, running off just as quickly to the next stand. “Did you see Hope run past?”

   “No, sorry. Is she with her mum?” Elsa asked, handing out ice pops to the other kids Hope’s age.

   Again, Killian didn’t bother to reply. There was no time too. Instead he pushed back into the crowd and found all the familiar faces he could, pulling them to stops to listen to him.

   “Did Hope run past you?”

   “Sorry, no.” Ashley shrugged, preoccupied with her own kids at the moment. “But don’t worry, I’m sure she’s with Emma or Snow.”

   “Do you know where Hope is?!”

   “Emma’s over by the hot dog stand.” Leroy said unhelpfully.

   “Hey! Have you seen Hope running around?!”

   “No, is everything okay-?” Killian had run off before Rogers could even finish asking.

   “Shit. Shit. Shit!” He needed to find someone. A magic user. Not Elsa. Her magic was no good. He needed Regina or Zelena or anyone who could just wave their hand and instantly bring Hope back to him!

   “Killian?”

   He spun around on the spot, finding Emma standing just behind him, looking very concerned and confused with three hot dogs balanced between her hands. She also didn’t have Hope with her, much to Killian’s dismay.

   “Where’s Hope?” Emma asked, looking at his feet for their little rugrat.

   “I-...” Killian stumbled before his shoulders slumped and he burst out a confession. “I lost her.” His voice was still panicked and thick, almost like he was close to all out sobbing.

   Emma had a fraction of a second being shocked with a flash of worry waving through her eyes. But before she could let the worry turn into fear, she quickly dropped the hot dogs at her feet and waved her hands in front of her. A second later, Hope reappeared between them, in amongst the white cloud of smoke Emma had summoned.

   “Mama!” Hope squealed. She was sat on the floor, two handfuls of torn cotton candy in either hand. “Look what Tiana gave me!”

   “That was nice of her.” Emma laughed, breathing a sigh of relief and rubbing Killian’s shoulder. His sigh of relief was more of a wheezing at this point, but still one of relief all the same. “We’ll have to find and thank her, but maybe another day. I think we’re gonna head home for now. You and your dad have had enough excitement for one day.”

   “Aww,” Hope pouted.

   “Come on, silly monkey.” Emma laughed, picking her daughter up and balancing her on her hip before taking her husband’s hand and leading him back home.

* * *

    “I was pathetic today.”

   “What? No, don’t be ridiculous.” Emma said instantly.

   They had returned home to find Hope almost completely exhausted from her fun day out. She had dropped off to sleep in Emma’s arms not long before they got through the doorway. Then she woke long enough to have the sticky residue of cotton candy wiped from her lips, before drifting off once more, seconds after she had been laid down in her bed. Luckily Ella and Henry were done with their little date and had retired to their own room, hiding away quietly and giving Emma and Killian some of their own private time. Now they were left hovering in the doorway of their daughter’s overly pink bedroom and Emma looked up, seeing Killian’s miserable expression as he watched his only child sleep soundly, unaware of the real fright she had given him earlier.

   “I lost her, Emma.” Killian sighed, turning away.

   “Like you’re the first parent to do that.” Emma chuckled. Then she noticed the intensity of Killian’s expression and reached towards him. “Hey, I’m serious. Kids are crazy, they run around and never listen when you tell them to stay close. The important thing is finding them again when they do get themselves lost.”

   “You found her.” Killian noted, still sulking.

   “Yeah, and you...” Emma said, stepping up to him and rubbing her hands over the front of his shoulders. “... never stopped looking for her. And that makes you my hero. And Hope’s.”

   Killian smiled sadly and Emma closed the distance, pressing a soft kiss to his lips and sliding her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close against her. After a moment, Killian relaxed and his hands made their way around her waist as he pulled her tightly against him. They kissed for a few drawn out seconds before pulling away and smiling softly at one another. Then, they turned and looked towards their little girl. She was so perfectly peaceful, happy with the wonderful day she had out, even if she had technically been naughty with it.

   She was so young, and yet already so much trouble already. She’d probably only get worse when she got older.

   And Emma and Killian couldn’t wait.


End file.
